Squeaky Clean
by artrose
Summary: When Ren is too into his game to indulge in his specified bath time, Aoba comes up with several different ways to convince Ren to get in the tub. For ruffruffren on AO3.


"Ren, it's bath time."

Those four words pierced Ren's eardrums like a hot knife, his brain suddenly pulsing painfully as a growing headache arose at the thought of what those words meant. Usually Ren had no problems with taking a bath, he welcomed the bubbly water and lavender-scented soap and relished the sensation of being completely at ease while the steam of the heated water coursed throughout the bathroom.

But now was a bad time, he was close to beating his high score on the new recently released Pac-Man game, the digitally remastered and upgraded for the 3DS version that Aoba had been kind enough to buy for him, and he didn't feel like stopping. Of course he could always pause the game, but the bath could wait. This was important.

Aoba walked into the living room, jacket gone and sleeves rolled up, puff in his right hand. "Ren? Did you hear me? It's time for your bath."

"But Aobaaaa," Ren whined, not even looking up from his game in fear that one of the ghosts would chase Pac-Man's still form and kill him. "I'm close to beating my high score. Can't I take my bath later?"

Aoba sighed. "Come on, Ren, you can finish playing once you get out."

"But why wait when I can do it now?"

Aoba ran his free hand through his blue locks as he let out a deep sigh through his nostrils. Video games were fun and all, and Aoba loved them as much as the next hardcore gamer, as he was one himself, but when Ren got hooked on a game, he was stubborn to a fault about putting it down unless it was important.

"Ren, I'll force you in there if I have to," Aoba warned him. "I know how you get really into video games, and I'll disconnect it if it's stopping you from doing something as simple as taking a bath. Don't you want to be squeaky clean?"

Ren swallowed the lump in his throat with some difficulty. In the past, during the first few days of him getting used to his human body, Ren had heard Aoba say something about being 'squeaky clean'. And he liked that phrase. He thought it was cute. The phrase was mentally repeated several times like a mantra, and it brought a smile to Ren's face every time he said it. So he found his partner, who happened to be running bathwater for himself, and asked him about what the phrase meant exactly. He had a good idea already, but it was always helpful to clarify. And ever since that day, Ren was eager to be 'squeaky clean' and tended to abandon whatever he was doing to rush for the bathtub.

But instead of listening to Aoba like a good boy, a mischievous twinkle glinted in Ren's eyes. He paused the game, shut his 3DS, and stood up. Aoba thought he was going to retrieve his pajamas and a fresh pair of boxers, but the dark blue-haired dog human's ears wiggled suspiciously, and the mischievous twinkle in his amber eyes remained when he turned his head to stare at Aoba.

Aoba's bottom lip protruded slightly in a pout. "Alright, Ren. Let's dance."

 **.|.**

Pale fingers mashed away at the buttons of the handheld device Ren held, pink tongue poking out cutely in anticipation of finishing the level he was currently on.

"Ren! I got a new toy for you!" Aoba trilled, noticing the word 'PAUSE' appear on the bottom screen of the device in yellow letters. "Here, fetch!"

Despite him being a human now, Ren still had a few canine attributes—and mentalities. The game was placed on the floor in a flash, hands and feet thumping against the carpeted floor to chase after the thrown ball. He was focused on it; his dog senses jumpstarted when the word 'fetch' left Aoba's lips, ignorantly bolting after it wherever it may lead him. It seemed like Ren was headed straight for the bathroom, until—

THUMP!

Ren had ran right into the wall, whimpers leaving his throat as he clutched the red, throbbing spot on his forehead where the pain spiked at. Aoba winced at the loud sound, worrying his bottom lip before running to get some ointment, a few painkillers, and a glass of water before returning to his hurt lover.

 **.|.**

"Ren! Ren! Akushima's outside, and he's gonna blow this whole place up unless you take a bath!" Aoba panicked, arms flailing.

Ren didn't even look up from his game. "Aoba, that's highly illogical. First of all, why would Akushima want to cause a mass explosion because I refuse to enter the bathtub?"

The blue-haired man shrugged nonchalantly, as if he had forgotten this was supposed to be convincing. "I don't know, Akushima's crazy. Besides, he always tries to arrest people for the stupidest reasons. But don't you think it's just as crazy to have to force your boyfriend to take a bath?"

"Yes, but what if said boyfriend wants to finish his video game?"

"Ren, you and I both know that once you get finished with one level, you'll want to go onto the next. Then you'll want to finish that one. Then you'll want to finish the next one, and the next one, and you'll never stop."

"Is it my fault that video games are addicting?"

"No, I agree with you, actually."

"Want to play with me?"

"Maybe after your bath."

 **.|.**

Aoba's hands swirled in mid-air hypnotically, staring off into space as Ren watched him, interested. "Without using Scrap, I'm going to assault your mind and fill it with subliminal messages."

Deciding to play along and see if this would actually work, Ren shut his eyes. Several images flashed through his mind, such as a bathtub, a rubber duck, soap, a scrub brush, a bottle of bubble soap, Yoshie-san in a bikini—wait, what the hell?

Hazel irises flew open, both men exchanging mortified expressions before Aoba turned on his heel to leave the living room, whimpering "I don't even know where that came from, I swear."

Ren just shook his head, picking up his DS to resume his game, figuring Pac-Man would be able to erase any memories of that...horrifyingly vivid image from his brain.

 **.|.**

"Ren? Would you get in the tub for a Scooby Snack?"

"...No, Aoba."

 **.|.**

A smug smirk crept onto pink lips as he dialed the number of a dog whisperer he found on the Internet into his coil. "Hello, American dog whisperer? I have a naughty dog here that won't take a bath...what? Wait, wait, what? Slow down, I can't understand you. It's like you're speaking English or something."

Ren let out a deep sigh, why would Aoba call an American dog whisperer, instead of Japanese? Was he really that tired...?

 **.|.**

Arms clad in a puffy jacket wrapped around Ren's neck, linked together by the slim fingers. "Hey Ren!" Aoba chirped. "Wanna play leap frog?"

Ren was getting a bit irritated with the constant interruptions of his game, but ultimately he paused his game and rested his larger hands on Aoba's arms, the response to the question a simple warm smile. "Alright."

Ren remained sat on the floor where he was, Aoba gaining a running start before planting his hands into silky dark blue strands and catapulting himself over Ren. The moment he felt the ground against his boots, he swiftly squatted to the floor, blue hair fluttering as he turned his head to grin at Ren. "Your turn!"

Ren rose from the floor, backing up some to create some distance between him and Aoba to begin his own running start. And Ren was really looking forward to a good game of leap frog, actually. But Aoba, being the blue-haired idiot he was, thought he could give Ren a short piggyback ride and carry him to the bathroom. But no, when he felt Ren's hands in his hair, he thrust his backside upwards to secure Ren on his back, but the Allmate-turned-human ended up faceplanting into the floor with a dull 'thump'.

"Oooh..." Aoba winced, kneeling down beside his downed lover. "Ren? Ren, are you alright?" Rolling him over, Aoba saw a purple splotch in the middle of Ren's forehead, the same spot he had banged into the wall before had hit the floor just now and was swollen. And Ren was unconscious.

Aoba let out a deep sigh before running to get an icepack, Ren's favorite pillow, more painkillers, and another glass of water.

 **.|.**

When Ren woke up, the first thing he noticed was that there was a dull chill in his numb forehead. The material underneath him was soft and comfortable, a scent permeated from it that was undoubtedly Aoba, with a bit of his own scent mixed in. Gripping the material under him, he recognized it as sheets. He was in Aoba's bed, freezing cold liquid sliding down his face in clear rivulets. Water. There was ice on his forehead...?

"Ren, you're awake!" Aoba bolted up from his chair, the book in his hand discarded to the floor in a panic. He rushed to Ren's side, running slim fingers through soft dark blue hair endearingly. "I'm so sorry about the leap frog thing, I forgot you got hurt earlier, it's all my fault, please don't be mad, forgive me, I'll—"

"Aoba." Ren said firmly, effectively silencing the other boy's rant. "I'm fine. It's okay."

Blushing deeply, Aoba's fingers wandered to a few of the many dangling strands of his beautiful blue hair, twirling them around out of embarrassment.

Stretching his weary limbs, he pulled Aoba onto the bed, who let out a cry of surprise as strong arms wrapped around him, his face nuzzled into Ren's chest. Warmth coursed throughout his body, he felt safe and comfortable in Ren's arms.

"Tell you what," Ren's voice was slightly slurred with drowsiness, even after just waking up from unconsciousness he was still a bit tired. "We're both tired, when we wake up, we can take a bath together. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah." Aoba replied, his eyes slipping shut as the blissful clutches of sleep overtook him and Ren.

 **.|.**

A pleased grunt left Ren's throat as Aoba's delicate fingers gently scratched at his scalp and soaped up every dark blue strand of his foamy hair, and combined with the steam from the heated water, he was immensely relaxed. As his mind began to wander, he felt a twinge of pain in his chest as painful memories resurfaced. All those past years of sitting in the bathroom watching Aoba bathe, wishing he could jump right in and join him, splash around with him, play with the bubbles with him, wash his body, wash his hair, just touch his soft wet skin...

"Ren? Everything okay?" Aoba questioned, nudging Ren slightly. The dark blue fur on Ren's ears tickled his neck, causing him to laugh softly.

"Mhm..." Ren murmured absentmindedly, still lost in thought.

"Can I rinse your hair now?" The sky blue-haired boy asked, moving to the side to gently lower Ren's head into the water.

"Mhm..."

"You love me, Ren?"

"Mhm..."

Now Ren could do everything with Aoba that he wanted to, and he was happy. Happier memories banished the painful ones, and the world seemed to slow down as Ren began to melt into Aoba, drowning in utter bliss.

A smirk crept onto Aoba's pink lips. "You ever fucked a cat, Ren?"

"Mhm..."

Aoba couldn't hold back the burst of laughter that erupted from his throat, startling Ren out of his drunk-on-euphoria stupor.

"Wh-What?"

"I just made you agree to something stupid."

Aoba..."

"Calm down, Ren. I was only kidding, I know it's not true."

Ren raised his pruny hands out of the water, smiling fondly at them. He pressed them to his warm cheeks, sliding them down to his neck, chest, stomach...before his tongue poked out adorably in a grin, pearly white canines visible. "Aoba, I feel very clean. Are we...squeaky clean now?"

Arms ensnared Ren's neck, Aoba's head leaning forward to rest against his shoulder. "Yes, Ren. We're squeaky clean."


End file.
